Safety device for gas-producers.



- Patented Apr. 3, 1900. w.-w. RANDOLPH & A. a. GLASGOW. SAFETY DEVICE FOR GAS PRODUCERS.

(Application filed Kay 11, 1898-) (Nb Model.) 3 Sh8ets8heet I.

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No. 646,608. Patented Apr. 3, I900. w. w. RANDOLPH & A. a. GLASGOW. SAFETY DEVICE FOR GAS PRODUCERS.

(Applicltion filed May 1-1, 189B.|

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

\ Inveniora 10%. 0-7 mu g N0.- 646,608. Patented Apr. 3, 1900. w. w. RANDOLPH & A. a. GLASGOW. SAFETY DEVICE FOR GAS PRODUCERS.

. (Application filed May 11, 1898., v (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

" NlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

-WILLIAM W. RANDOLPH, OF YORK, N. Y., AND ARTHUR G. GLASGOWV, OF LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNORS TO THE UNITED GAS IMPROVEMENT COMPANY, OE PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR'GAS-P RODL JCERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 646,608, dated April 3, 1900. Application filed May 11, 1898. Serial No. 680,862. (No model.)

A To all whom it may concern: In order that our invention maybe clearly Be it known that we, WILLIAM W. RAN- understood and readily carried into efiect, DOLPH, residing in the city, county, and State we will proceed to describe the same fully by of New York, and ARTHUR G. GLASGOW, reaid of the accompanying drawings, in which- 5 siding in Westminster, London, in the county Figures 1 and 1 make up a side elevation of Middlesex, England, both citizens of the of a gas-producer of the kind referred to, United States of America, have invented cerhaving our improved safety arrangements aptaiu new and useful Improvements in Safety plied thereto. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation Devices for Gas-Producers, of which the folon the line 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan of the 1'0 lowing is a true and exact description, refergas-producer with certain parts omitted,showence being had to the accompanying drawing a portion of the floor or staging usually ings, which form a part thereof. erected above such -a producer. Fig. 4 is a Our invention relatesto improvements in detached side elevation of the interlocking safety devices for gas-producers of the kind apparatus connected with the steam and oil 15 referred to in the specification of our former valves. Figs. 5 to 8 are detail views, herein- British Letters Patent No. 23,904, dated the after referred to.

27th of October, 1896, wherein there is an ala, b, and c are respectively the generator,

ternate production of Water-gas and fuel-gas. carbureter, and superheater of a carbureted As explained in the said former specification, water-gas plant. 7o 20 there is danger of'forming an explosive mixa, Z), and c are the blast-valves which con ture in the apparatus by the air-blast mixing trol the admission of air from the blast-pipes with the water-gas, and certain means are dea b and c to the parts a, b, and c. The scribed for obviating this danger by interfirst of these valves-namely, a-is operated locking the blast-valves, which control the in the manner hereinafter described. The 25 admission of air to the various parts of the other two are operated, respectively, by means apparatus, with the valve through which the of levers b 0 mounted on pillars b and .0 products of combustion are led away from and connected with their valves by rods b the apparatus, usually termed the take-off and c or stack valve, owing to its being situated 02 d are the gas-valves by which the exit 86 0 at the entrance of the stack. Now in some of gas from the generator ato the carbureter cases we find it advantageous to be able to b, passing through the pipes 6' e is controlled. operate the generator blast-valve independ- These valves are arranged to slide transently of the stack-valve, and the object of versely of their pipes c or e, and the upper our present invention is to provide means valve cl is operated by a hand-wheel (1 the 5 whereby this can be done, while at the same spindle of which is mounted on pillars 01 time we avoid liability to explosions by inand carries a pinion engaging a rack (1 con terlocking the said generator blast-valve with nected to the valve d. The lower valve (2 is the oil-supply valve and with the gas-valves operated by a rack (1 which is engaged by controlling the direction of make in the gena pinion on the shaft d of a chain-wheel d 90 .40 erator. We allow the stack-valve to remain driven from a corresponding chain-Wheel d interlocked with the other blast-Valves of the on the spindle of the hand-wheel d It will apparatus,andwe mayalso interlock thestackbe observed, Fig. 2, that the upper rack 61* is valve with the steam or oil supply valves, or in front of its pinion, while the lower rack d both. The steam-valve in such case maybe is behind its pinion, and consequently the 5 45 arranged in such a manner-that it can, if devalves d d move simultaneously in opposite sired, be disengaged and operated by hand in directions, one opening while the other closes, the manner subsequently described, such disin correspondence with a three-way cock, (not engagement, however, requiringthe performshown,) directing the admission of steam to ance of a series of deliberate operations which the top or bottom of the generator, the ar- 50 preclude any possibility of its being effected rangement of the gas-valves and the threeinadvertently. v way steam-cook being similar to that described in the specification of former British Letters Patent No. 19,753 of 1392.

fis a stop-valve controlling the admission of steam to the generator for the production of water-gas and is worked by a rotary movement of a rod f.

g is a valve controlling the admission of oil to the carbureter for enriching the gas. This valve is operated by turning a rod 9. (See Figs. 1 and 4..) v

h is the stack-valve by which the products of combustion are allowed to escape to the stack, (not shown,) this valve being operated by a lever 7t through the medium of a rod 7L2, connected to an arm h on the pivot or axle 71 which carries the valve.

The interlocking of the blast-valve a and the gas-valves (7 (7 is effected in the following manner: The valve ct is connected to a red a which extends upward into a pillar of and is operated by a hand-wheel a through the medium of a rack-and-pinion arrangement similar to that by which the valve (7 is operated from the wheel (7 the rack, however being situated inside the pillar (L The rack (7 of the lower valve (7' is connected by a rod or link i to an arm 1", fixed on a rocking shaft 1' and from another arm 1", Fig. 2, on this shaft to a bell-crank 1' by means of a rod This bell-crank has secured to it a sliding locking-rod 11 which projects into a block (1, attached rigidly to the pillar a. The rod a" of the "alve a passes through this same block approximately at right angles to the rod Interlocking gaps or notches 'i (7 formed in the rods 1' and a respectively, as in Fig. 5, allow the valve a to be operated by up-and-down movements of the red at" so long the lower gas-valve (7' is closed and the upper gas-valve (Z consequently open, and these valves cannot be reversed until the red a has been pushed down to allow the rod 7 connected with said valves, to move endwise through a at which time obviously the rod a is prevented from moving and the blastvalve cannot be opened. This same arrangement of slotted rods can be applied in the interlocking of blast-valves with stack-valve, as subsequently described.

In the interlocking of the generator blastvalve with the oil-valve a lug a on the rod a is connected by a rod to a bell-crank 70, which in turn is connected to the sliding rod 79, working in a guide 70 and adapted to enter a hole or eye in the rod g when the valve a is opened, thus preventing the turning of the rod 9 and the opening of the oilvalve g. In the position shown in Fig. 1 the oil-valve g is open, and the rod 7& cannot enter the hole g Hence the opening of the generator blast-valve a is prevented. In Fig. 4, however, the oil-valve has been closed, and the rod 70 can therefore enter the hole g thus allowing the blast-valve a to be opened, locking the said oil-valve.

The interlocking of the blast-valves b and c with the stack-valve h is elfccted through the medium of a rod 7, connected with the arm 71." on the stack-valve axle. This rod 7 is connected to a bell-crank 7,to which is coupled a rod or bar 7', connected with a bell-crank lever 7 and a three-crank lever 7 as seen more clearly in Fig. A pair of rods 7 7,

.connected, respectively,with the levers 7 and 7 are brought into the position shown in Fig. 3 when the stack-Valve h is closed. In this position (see Figs. 8 and 7) they enter notches, catches, or openings in the valverods b thus preventing the latter rods being moved to open the valves 7) c as long as the valve 71. is closed. The rods 7- 7, are also provided with notches, as shown, which when these rods are moved by the opening of the valve 72. come opposite the rods 72 c and permit the latter to be raised to open the valves 7; e, in which raised position they prevent endwise movement of the rods 7 and l and prevent closing of the valve 71. as long as either of the valves 7) or c is open.

WVhen it is desired to interlock the steam and oil valve with the stack-valve, this may be effected through the medium of the three armed horizontal lever 7 Fig. 3, to which a locking-rod 7 is connected by alink 7 This locking-rod 7 works in guides 7 Figs. 3 and 1t, and is adapted to pass or be blocked by projecting pieces or steps f g, secured to the valve-rods, as indicated more clearly in Figs. 4 and 6. Vhen the rod is pushed upward into the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 6, it prevents the stops assuming the position shown in dotted lines, and consequently prevents the valve-rods fg being turned by their handles f g. In case,however, for any special reason it might be desired to open the steam-valvc at this time without disturbing the other parts of the apparatus we arrange the valve-rod f so that it can be raised sufficiently to allow its stop f to clear the rod 7 For this purpose the upper end of the rodf is provided with a collar f Fig. 4, secured to it by means of a setscrew in such a position that the said collar abuts against the lower side of a bracket f when the stop is level with the locking-rod 7 As long, therefore, as the collar is in this position it is impossible to raise the valve-rod f in the manner referred to. \Vhen, however, the collar is loosened by disengaging its setscrew, the valve-rod f can be raised without difficulty until the stop f is above, and rests upon the rod 7 as the rodf is turned to open the steam-valve. When the steam-valve is closed or the rod 7 withdrawn, the rod f drops automatically to its originallevel, and the two become again interlocked. Obviously when the stop is in the position shown in dotted lines it will prevent the movement of the rod 7 to the right, and consequently the stackvalve cannot be opened, also, the sliding rod 7 may be shortened, so as to omit the steam-valve and interlock only with the rod 9 of the oil-valve.

The various parts of the apparatus not specifically described form no part of the present invention and are common to gas-producing plants of the kind referred to.

What we claim is 1. In a gas-producer the combination of a generator blast-Valve, a stack-valve, an oilvalve and a steam-valve with connections operating with the stack-valve, the oil-valve and the steam-valves respectively and adapted to interlock, as described to prevent the opening of the stack-valve when the oil or steam valves are open and to prevent the opening of the steam and oil valves when the stack-valve is open and connections operating with theblast and oil valves respectively and adapted to interlock as described to prevent the opening of either of said valves when the other is open.

2. In a gas-producer the combination of a stack-valve,a steam-valve, an oil-valve,means for interlocking said Valves and means for disengaging said steam-valve while the other valves are interlocked, substantially as described.

3. In a gas-producer the combination of a blast-valve, asteam-valve,an oil-valve,means for interlocking said valves and means for disengaging said steam-valve while the other valves are interlocked, substantially as described.

. 4. In a gas-producer the combination of a generator, gas-outlet pipes leading from the top and bottom of said generator, gas-valves situated in said pipes, a blast-valve controlling the air-supply to said generator and means for interlocking said gas and blast valves substantially as described, and whereby the blast-valve is free to open only in one position of the gas-valves.

5. In a gas-producer the combination of a generator blast-valve, a valve-rod connected therewith, upper and lower gas-valves, means for operating these gas-valves simultane ously, a locking-rod adapted to engage said valve-rod and means for causing said locking-rod to be operated by said gas-valves.

6. In a gas-producer the combination of a stack-valve, a sliding rod, means for actuating said rod from the stack-valve, crank-levers connected with said rod, locking-rods connected with said levers, valve-rods con-' nected with the air, oil and steam valves, and

means for causing said locking-rods and valverods to interlock with one another.

7. In a gas-producer the combination of a gas-valve, an air-blast valve, a valve-rod for operating said blast-valve, a rod for locking said valve-rod, a rocking shaft, and means for transmitting motion from said gas-valve to said shaft and from said shaft to said locking-rod, substantially as'described.

8. Ina gas-producer the combination of a blast-valve, a blast-valve rod, a gas-valve, a steam-valve, a steam-valve rod, locking-rods one for each valve-rod, a rocking shaft and means for causing the gas-valve to operate the shaft and for causing the shaft to operate the locking-rods substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I, the said WILLIAM W. RANDOLPH, have hereunto set my hand this 5th day of May, 1898.

WVM. W. RANDOLPH.

Witnesses:

W. H. MACOMBER, IRVINE J. KIDNEY.

In testimony whereof I, the said ARTHUR G. GLASGOW, have hereunto set my hand this 14th day of April, 1898.

' ARTHUR G. GLASGOWV.

Witnesses:

FRANCIS W. FRIGOUT, HERBERT D. JAMESON. 

